Chess in Action

November 1953 (IM George Koltanowski gave a Simultaneous Exhibition at the Valley of the Moon Festival in Sonoma and scored 26 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. 140 Juniors, from 5 to 18, competed in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park; KCBS Radio publicized it on Jim Grady's "This is San Francisco".)

August-September 1956 (IM George Koltanowski was appointed Tournament Administrator for the U.S. Chess Federation.)

October-December 1956 (The East won the Chess Friends of Northern California's East-West Match by a score of 17-12; on the 1st board, Milo Ayer of Berkeley (E) lost to Leslie Wheeler of San Francisco (W). Gil Ramirez won the California State Championship. CFNC Rating List.)

September-October 1958 (George Koltanowski gave a lecture at the Pacifica Chess Club in Pedro Valley California. George Koltanowski gave a Simultaneous Exhibition at the Lafayette Chess Club and scored 14 wins and 2 draws. CFNC Rating List.)

November-December 1958 (Mrs. Nancy McLeod won the 4th Annual San Bruno Open Chess Tournament. The West won the Annual SF Bay Area East-West Match by a score of 19-10. CFNC Rating List.)

January-February 1959 (Edwin Simanis of Oakland won the Sheraton Palace Holiday Special Open in San Francisco. CFNC Rating List.)

March-April 1959 (David Krause of Palo Alto won the Chess Friends Open Tournament at the Oakland Y.M.C.A. CFNC Rating List.)

May-June 1959 (Lieut. John Hudson of Mather Air Force Base won the Contra Costa County Chess Championship in Pleasant Hill.)

July-August 1959 (John Blackstone won the First Annual Alameda High School Open held at the Hayward High School. CFNC Rating List.)

September-October 1959 (9th Annual Sonoma Valley of the Moon Chess Festival broke all previous attendance records with 253 players and over 1,000 spectators; David Krause won the Expert Invitational Tournament with a score of 5-0. Ronald Thacker won the Group A section of the Oakland YMCA Championship. David Krause won the Redwood City Chess Club Tournament.)

November-December 1959 (Dan McLeod won the 1959 San Bruno Chess Club Tournament. The East won the Annual SF Bay Area East-West Match by a score of 19-9. CFNC Rating List.)

January-February 1960 (Wade Hendricks won the Rapid Transit (10-second per move) Championship of the San Bruno Chess Club. Collecting chessmen.)

March-April 1960 (David Krause won the Invitational Sonoma Tournament in August of 1959. Julius Loftsson won the CFNC Northern California Annual Open Championship.)

November-December 1960 (The East won in the Annual SF Bay Area East-West Match. George Koltanowski played 3 Stanford professors on Channel 2 KTVU TV. Kolty released an LP album "My Approach to the Game." Missing last two pages?)

January-February 1961 (Over 500 spectators came to see George Koltanowski play 100 opponents at 10 seconds a move.)

March-April 1961 (Erik Osbun won the CFNC Open Championship at the Oakland YMCA. CFNC Rating list.)

June-July 1962 (Announcement for the George Koltanowski Caissa Award - a bronze plaque designed by the famous sculptor, Mariam Brackenridge; to be given annually to a chosen few who promote the cause of Caissa, the Goddess of Chess. Mitchell Bedford won the CFNC Open Championship.)

Winter 1962 (CFNC Rating List. Robert Henderson beat Marshall McLennan in a USCF-rated Match by a score of 6-4. Bill Addison won the 2nd Annual Hamilton AFB Open. The 12th Annual Sonoma Outdoor Chess Festival (Valley of the Moon) drew 215 entries. R.P. McClary won the Kolty CC Rating Tournament. Paul Vayssie drew Marsh McLennan in a USCF-rated Match by a score of 5-5. Robert L. Henry won the Oakland YMCA Championship. Jim McIlrath won the 1st Redwood City Open Tournament.)

Spring 1963 (The San Francisco Chronicle sponsored a match between IM George Koltanowski and IGM Paul Keres. John Blackstone and Ken Grover won the CFNC Round-Up Tournament. IGM Robert Fischer won the U.S. Championship. The CFNC Open Championship was won by Michael Leidner. Peter Cleghorn won the CFNC Experts Invitational Round-Robin.)

Summer/Autumn 1963 (Petrosian-Botvinnik World Title Match analysed by IGM Paul Keres. Ray Schutt won the Hayward Open Chess Festival. Duncan Suttles, Max Wilkerson and Serge von Oettingen tied for 1st in the Sacramento Open. IGM Pal Benko won the Santa Monica Open. John Blackstone won the Junior Championship of California. CFNC Rating List.)

Spring 1964 (IGM Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Championship with a score of 11-0. IGM Paul Keres reports on the 31st USSR Championship.)

Spring 1965 (Art Wang and Michael Bedford tied for 1st in the Annual CFNC Open Championship held in Berkeley. Aki Kanamori, John Smail and Dr. Mikhael Schick tied for 1st in the Kolty Chess Club Annual Championship.)

Autumn 1965 (John Blackstone won the 15th Annual Sonoma Open Air Chess Festival. Steve Joplin won the Oakland Open. John Smail won the Berkeley Chess Club Championship. John Blackstone won the CFNC Open in Berkeley. CFNC Rating List.)

Summer 1966 (K. Tullus, J. Blackstone and Erik Osbun tied for 1st in the Master section of the 1966 Peninsula Open held in LERA. Max Wilkerson won, on tiebreak, the Walnut Creek Open. Petrosian retained his World Championship title against Spassky.)

Winter 1967 (Richard Laver and Kon Grivainis tied for 1st and 2nd in the Contra Costa County Championship. James Ulrich won the CFNC Berkeley Open Chess Championship. CFNC Rating List.)

Spring 1968 (John Smail won the CFNC New Year Open Championship. Jim Ulrich won the CFNC/USCF Open Qualifier Tournament (leading to the California State Championship.) Ken Yamamoto won the 1968 CFNC Championships Tournament. The 1968 CFNC Northern California Junior Championship Playoff Tournaments were won by Matthew Sullivan in the '10 Years and Under Group', David Glanville in the '11-12-13 Year Group', Jay Spingarn in the 14-15-16 Year Group', and Dave Amkraut in the '17-18 Year Group'. Mark Watson won the Concord Open Championship. Peter Grey won the Carlmont Open Championship. CFNC Rating List.)

Summer 1968 (Gary Pickler won the top 4-person section of the Four Leaf Clover Tournament in Oakland. John Blackstone won the Peninsula Championship - USCF Open Division. CFNC Rating List.)

Fall 1968 (Jude Acers won the Oakland Open Championship. Kon Grivainis won the 5th Annual Oakland Summer Championship. The Lera CC Team beat the Oakland CC Team by a score of 11.5-10.5; on the 1st board, Bob Shean (L) lost to David Forthoffer (O). CFNC Rating List.)

Winter 1968 (Jude Acers, David Blohm and Frank Thornally tied for 1st in the 3rd Annual Northern California Class Championship. Garry Wilson won the Carlmont Open Championship. Steven Spencer won the Novato Open Championship. The 1968 CFNC Junior Championships of Contra Costa County were won by J. Fichtenkort in the '10 Years and Under Group', Peter Shearer in the '11-12-13 Year Group', and Jim Shearer and Jim Eliason tied for 1st in the 14-15 Year Group'. CFNC Rating List.)

Spring 1969 (The CFNC 2nd Annual 1969 Peninsula Junior Championships were won by Matthew Sullivan in the '10 Years and Under Division', Todd Lowenstein in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Harry Radke and Carl Mueller tied for 1st in the 14-15 Year Division'. The CFNC 1969 Marin Junior Championships were won by Mike Burnham in the '10 Years and Under Division', Kevin Lewis in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and David Cowles in the 14-15 Year Division'. The CFNC 2nd Annual 1969 East Bay Junior Championships were won by Craig Barnes in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Edward Salvador in the 14-15 Year Division'. The CFNC 2nd Annual 1969 Northern California Junior Championship Playoffs were won by Shawn Hurt and Matthew Sullivan in the '10 Years and Under Division' (5-Year-2-month-old, Kevin Meier, won 6th place.), Craig Barnes in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Harry Radke and Jim Shearer tied for 1st in the 14-15 Year Division'. George Kane won the 1969 Hayward Open Division Championship. CFNC Rating List. David Blohm won the California State Championship.)

Summer 1969 (The CFNC 1st Annual Sunnyvale Junior Open Championships were won by Matthew Sullivan in the '10 Years and Under Division', Jeffrey White and Brant Corenson in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Carl Mueller in the 14-15 Year Division'. Rex Wilcox and Frank Thornally tied for 1st in the 1969 Peninsula Open Championship. Rene Saguisag won the 1969 Spring Carlmont Open Championship - CFNC E/A Division. CFNC Rating List.)

Fall 1969 (Randell Hough and Ray Ng tied for 1st in the 1969 Chabot Open Championship. James Hurt won the 1969 Oakland Summer Championship. CFNC Rating List. Alan Baisley won the California State Open in Monterey.)

Winter 1969 (John Grefe won the 1st Annual USCF Sunnyvale Open and Northern Class Championship. The CFNC 1969 Santa Clara Junior Championships were won by Shawn Hurt in the '10 Years and Under Division', Christopher Black and Reid Yalom in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Dennis Meyers in the 14-15 Year Division'. Garry Wilson won the 3rd Annual Fall Carlmont Open Championship - E/A Division. CFNC Rating List.)

Spring 1970 (The 1970 CFNC Peninsula Junior Championships were won by Ted Fong and Carolyn Withgitt in the '10 Years and Under Group', Jeffrey White in the '11-12-13 Year Group', Scott Miller and John Peterson in the 14-15 Year Group', and Harry Radke and Sidney Willett in the '16-17-18 Year Group'. The 1970 CFNC East Bay Junior Championships were won by Dennis Fung (Leslie Gee - Under 10 Years) in the '13 Years and Under Group', and Stephen Gee in the 14-15 Year Group'. The CFNC 3rd Annual 1970 Northern California Junior Championship Playoffs were won by Carolyn Withgitt in the '10 Years and Under Division', Kevin Lewis in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Jim Shearer in the 14-15 Year Division'. Erik Osbun won the 1970 CFNC/USCF Open State Qualifier Tournament. CFNC Rating List. Jude Acers gave a Simultaneous Exhibition at the Fremont CC and scored 18 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.)

Summer 1970 (Sigmund Malek won the 1970 Daly City Open Championship. The CFNC 1970 Sunnyvale Junior Championships were won by Carolyn Withgitt in the '10 Years and Under Division', Geoffrey Fong in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Rodger Dusatko in the 14-15 Year Division'. Julio Kaplan and Erik Osbun tied for 1st in the 5th Annual 1970 Peninsula Open Championship.)

Winter 1970 (Henry Davis, Craig Barnes and Kevin Burnett tied for 1st-3rd (with 4 points) in the 7th Annual Oakland Summer Championship - E/A Division. Frank Thornally won the 2nd Annual Chabot Open. Frank Thornally, Vitaley Radaikin, Sigmund Malek and C. Bill Jones tied for 1st in the 5th Annual Sunnyvale Open Championship. The CFNC 1970 Santa Clara Open Junior Championships were won by Martin Gee in the '10 Years and Under Division', Kevin Lewis in the '11-12-13 Year Division', and Chris Black in the 14-15 Year Division'. The last CFNC Rating List.)